Tomorrow our club is holding a 3 x 600 yard prone match. Normally I would shoot my AR that I use in regular HP matches because you can never get enough trigger time at 600 yards. But, I didn't have enough long range ammo loaded to shoot all three stages (66 plus rounds), and was too tired when I got home from today's HP match to reload some more. So I decided I would shoot in F Class in the T(actical)/R(ifle) class. All T/R rifles must use a bipod. No bag or machine front rests.

So what do I have with a scope that can shoot 22 plus rounds in 22 minutes and still maintain MOA at 600 yards?

The scope mount is a Darrell's scout mount. He makes them and sells them direct. No web site, not through Midway or Brownell's AFAIK. Cost about $70. You can contact him for ordering info at m39scout@bellsouth.net

I seen some people post that they thought about going with an S&K mount because it "appears" to be lower.

I have an S&K on a Czeck mauser, and while it's a solid mount, it puts the scope height NO lower than Darrell's. The S&K mount also uses propietary rings, and their position is fixed fore/aft. They are adjustable for windage. They are not Weaver or Picatinny. Darrell's mount mount lets you use either of those.

I've put roughly 400 rounds through this rifle since putting on the scope and mount in January and it hasn't moved.

The scope is a Leupold M8 IER Scout scope, 2.5x28. (the latest generation is called the FX-II and has 1/4 moa clicks instead of friction adjustment) The clarity is great. I tried a NC Star and there is just NO comparison. The Leupold may cost 4X as much but it has been worth every penny. The rings are Leupold QRW, medium height, but low ones would work just fine. I also added a pair of Stoney Point Target Knobs so I could make quick, easy, repeatable, elevation adjustments. (Note: Stoney Point sells the knobs individually or in pairs. If you can just hold for wind then you could easily get awway with only having one for the elevation)

I shot an all time personal best at a silhouette match in Jan (sans bipod) that included hitting 9 turkeys in a row at 385 meters (missed a wind shift on the 10th one) in a shoot off for 1st place.

Bad news first. I didn't win. Didn't even take first in F class. But among all the long range shooters, we had around 30, I finished mid pack with my $400 investment. The majority of the shooters were using Palma rifles, all the other F class shooters were using custom "heavy" rifles with 35X-42X scopes, machine rests, and basically benchrest type ammo.

But I did NOT embarrass either myself or the Swiss rifle. Had a lot of people come over and look, and comment how well the rifle ammo combo worked. We shot 3 times at 600 yards, 20 rounds for record each time. My best score was a 188-1X out of a possible 200, with my other two scores being slightly lower. Only ONE F class shooter shot a 200, and he only did that one time.

We (the F class shooters) were shooting on the NRA HP SR-3 300 yard target, while the Palma guys used the standard 600 yard target - which is TWICE as big. The hardest part for me was due to the scope. It's only a 2.5X and the cross hairs, while pretty fine, covered about 50% or more of the black bull. I couldn't even distinguish the rings at all. That made it pretty difficult to tell if I was exactly centered or not. I could have been off an inch or two and not been able to tell.

So you can see that: over 30% of my shots were inside 1 MOAover 75% were inside 2 MOA56 of the 60 shots (not counting the 6 sighter shots) were inside 3 MOA.

I was shooting the Sierra 175 Match King, in Graf brass with a Federal GM210M primer, over 43gr. of Reloader 15, with a avg muzzle velocity of 2525 FPS.

My come up from a 200 yard zero was approximately 15 MOA.

When it was over, at first I was slightly disappointed in my scores compared to the Palma shooters, a few of who cleaned their targets (shot a 200-xX). Then I realized that their 9 ring 18". And even though I had a scope, my target was 1/2 the size of theirs. so I was basically seeing the same "size" black as they were.

I honestly think that with a good high powered scope THIS PARTICULAR K31 would be competitive in the F T/R class.

As to the question of the bipod. I drew a line down the center of the fore stock with pencil, then moved the bipod back and forth till it was where it was comfortable for me, then installed a lag type (not machine screw) sling swivel stud and attached the Harris bipod to the stud.

Some of the serious shooters thought I was nuts. Other serious shooters thought it was great. One guy came over and said "now that's a tactical rifle."

Originally Posted By BridgerNY:My friend emailed me pics of your setup, very cool! What's the cheek-rest by the way? And how does it do with the GP-11 ammo?

Another guy posted this about the cheek rest over at Swissrifles.com. I like it myself.

The second cheekrest (in the middle) is available from Brownell’s. This is the strap-on version made by D&E called the “Scope Eze” and sells for about $30. It is easily moved from rifle to rifle, is available in different comb heights, attaches with velcro, and fits just about any milsurp stock.

The rifle does great with GP11. I've actually used the GP11 in another K31 with iron sights in a 800 yard match with good results. But the load I used today is even more accurate in this rifle

Originally Posted By MRW:IIRC, the standard stocks already free float the barrel. The front band clamps the two stock halves together, but should not put pressure on the barrel.

according to swissrifles.com this isn't exactly the case, although close. They have an article how to tweak the tightness of the the front and rear bands, as well as both locking screws. Again, it probably wouldn't make a difference with myself, not being the best shot, but it would however make the weapon a little lighter to carry around.

www.arisakarifle.com

just be warned: during SHTF times any AR stuff on an AK is just asking for friendly fire casualties :TheRedHorseman